Hoisting apparatus



y 1960 w. K. THORSON ETAL 2,946,561

HOISTING APPARATUS s She etS-Sheet 1 Filed March 28, 1956 IN V EN TORS .ATTO/P/VEVS W. K. THORSON ETAL HOISTING APPARATUS July 26, 1960 Filed March 28, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 7770A; on

nvmvroxs rm/Mas y;

July 26, 19 w. K. THORSON ETAL 2,946,561

HOISTING APPARATUS Filed March 28, 1956 a Sheets-Sheet :s

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Arcfi/e M-Ze/van INVENTORS A fro/9M5 m on the blocks.

HOISTING A-rBARnnUs Warren K. Thorson and Archie -R. McLerr-an, Dallas,

Tex.,.assignors'to'ldeco Inc., a" corporation of Ohio FiIedIMar. 28, 1956, SerLNo. 574,439

6 Claims. erase-14s upper end'off the mast: and a traveling bloclg suspended from the crown block by a line extended between-sheaves The dead endiofi'th'isline is-secured to a point. fixed'with respect" to the" support or platform for. the mast, and the. fast? end thereofis' connectedto a power source in the form of a rotatable drum of the f'drawworksfi whereby. the traveling block and equipment carriedtherefrom may be raised'or lowered,

One offthe. more recent innovations in the industry has been the portable type mastrwhich is' conveyed on-a carrier. in a substantially horizontal position and, then raised 'uprightat the drilling site; Inmanygof-thesemasts, such as the one which-is shown on-pages'2480 -2484 of the 1954-55 edition of the Composite Catal'ogof OiliField and Pipeline Equipment, the hoisting apparatus is also used in raising andiloweriirg the mast- Between upright and'lowered positions.

t It has been conventionalpractice, inconneetion with ra s P en .0

portableaswell. as othertypes of masts; to dispos'e the drawworks drum in substantiahalignment with'the crown and traveling blocks such that. the fastline is at no time during hoisting, or, in the case of portable masts; din-- ing raising and loweringgcaused to be misaligned with the sheaves of'the crown' block; In the*cas'e' of a'portable mast of the type abovementioned; thedrawworks isdisposed on the side ofthe" lower end of the mast opposite thattowardwhich the mastswingsintolowered position, so as to obtain the optimumdistribution of forces in raising and-lowering the mast.

Certain improvements inmast constmction and drilling techniques have made this conventional arrangementobjectionable, .For example; .When'a mastof 'theportable type is mountedupon a floatable-support-for use atotf shore locations, spacingand loadingoonsiderations may dictate. againstl placement ofthe drawworks in substantially the plane.ofswingingmovement of'the'mast. That is, a conventionally arranged drawworks may be found to. require too long" a drilling slot onthe floatable supporter, on the other-hand, to make the support unstable and'sub'ject to over-turning. by an over=concentration of weight toward one edge thereof.

Stilljfurther, in the caseofttiltable'masts of the character shown in a co-pending applicationofW. K; Thorson, entitled .Improvements in the Handling of" Equipment Laterallyofa Well Location, Serial'No. 554;765"'filed- December.22,'1955, the mast may be swung from an. upright position, and. ina directionaway from its lowered position,to..a,tiltedfposition in which it may be us'edfas a crane boom in handling equipment laterally of the well location. If the hoisting: apparatus normally employedi in drillingand' performing other operations on the well were also tobe usedin suspending equipment in, the tiltedposition" of the mast, it might becomenecessary. to. shift the. drawworks from first one tov another side of d'ead center of 'the mast in order to obtain the proper distribution of hoisting forces, aspreviously mentioned.

An object of this invention-is to provide novel hoisting apparatus for use with a tiltable mastof the character above-dascribed, which apparatus is so-constructed" and arranged that thetdrawworks may be fixedlylocatedon. the platformfor themast; l

Another object is to provide hoisting apparatus for, use with a mast which ,is swingable in a verticaljplane, whereinthe drawworks may bedisposedto' one. side of s uchrplane withoutmisali'gnmentlof the fastlinelwiththe sheaves, of the crownblock v. L Q

further object. is to. provide, particularly for. use with a mas'tswingable inxa verticalplane at an offshoredrilling location, hoistingapparatus in which the draw works istdisposed" to the side. of the masti and the fast endlofthe' line extending between thecrown'bloclg and drawworks drurnis' caused" to be spooled about the drum substantially uniformly .of .the. length thereo f, despite the position of the mast in its vertical plane of swinging movementandfwithout misalignment of the line withith'e sheaves ofthe crown'block; I I Still another object is to provide, in a mastswingable in a'verftical plane offmovernent; hoisting'apparatus in whichthfe traveling block is swingable in substantially; the plane of movement of the. mast and. Whereinithe -fast:end,of theline is sodirected'and guided that itimaybe extended down the outside o fithe mast for uniformly spooling about.a.drawworks drum which is locatedto one side of: the mastand with its axis of rotation dis= posed substantially parallel to'tsaid vertical plane of swinging movement.

Yet a further object is to1provide,',for;us'e with ap,'- paratus of the character described, a novel'fldevice for automatically spooling a line abouta' drawworks drum substantially. uniformlyof the length thereofi V d Other and further objectsoffthis invention will appear as the description proceeds. V K

In theaccompanying drawings forming apart ofthe instantspecifi'cation and wherein likereference numerals are used in the various views to indicate'like partszi Fig. 1 is a side elevational' view of a portable" and tiltable'ima st in an upright position for drillingand per forming other operations on a well'at an ofis'hore loca;-- tion; and showing, in broken lines; the mast in its lowered; substantially horizontaliposition as well as inv its tilted'positionfor, use as a' crane boom in handling equipment laterally of" the welllocation;

Fig; 2 isfan end elevational view of themast ofPi'g. :1 and taken from the left thereof; 7 V t t Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the mast of Figs. 1 and 2", Fig. 4is an enlarged frontfelevational'view of a spool? ing device which formspart. of the novel-hoisting apparatus for use with the mast'of'Figs. 1 toj3; v i Fig; Sis a side elevational view of the spoolingdev ice ofFig; 4, andtaken'fr'om-theri'ght thereof; p 1 Fig. 6 is an enlarged top plan" view of the crown block;whichforms another part'ofthe hoisting apparatus ofthe'presentinvention; and H V Fig; 7 is an enlarged end elevationalview of aportiorr of the 1 mast 'and hoisting apparatus, as seen from Figli 2 and interruptedintermediate the travelingblock and crownblock'ofFig. 6.. v i I V 7 W 7 l Referring now' particularly to" the drawings; and as. shown and'described in detail'in1the-aforementionedipub lication, the mast 10 is of a' typewhich is' swingablein a' 7 vertical plane between a lowered, substantially horizontal position in which it is supported upon a head rest 11, as shown in broken lines of Fig. 1, and an upright position, as shown in the solid line of Figs. 1 to 3, in which latter position a well may be drilled and other operations performed thereon. This mast is of substantially A frame construction so as to provide an open face (see Fig. 2) and is pivotally mounted at its lower end 12 to a platform 13 for swinging in the manner above men tioned. As fully described in the aforementioned publication and US. Patent 2,781,108, the mast is raised and lowered by means of a pair of raising legs 14 which are connected between the platform and the mast for movement along tracks 15 and which cooperate with the block and tackle 16 of the hoisting apparatus for forcing the legs along the tracks to the position shown, wherein they may be locked to the mast and provide a lateral support therefor.

As is conventional, the block and tackle means includes a traveling block 17 and a crown block 18, each having a plurality of sheaves between which a line 19 is extended. The dead end 20 of the line is connected to a point 21 fixed with respect to the platform 13, while the fast end 22 of the line is extended from the crown block 18 to the rotatable drum 23 of the drawworks 24 mounted on the platform 13. In this manner, the drawworks may be operated to raise and lower the traveling block 17 in hoisting equipment from the hook thereof.

The mast is also tiltable, in a manner more fully described in the aforementioned co-pending application, to the broken line position of Fig. 1 wherein equipment may be handled laterally of the well location by means of the hoisting apparatus previously described. More particularly, the raising legs 14 are extendable in length, by means of a suitable mechanism 25, from the solid line position of Fig. 1 wherein they provide a lateral support for the mast in its upright position to the broken line position in which they have swung the mast to its tilted position. At this time, and as more fully described in said copending application, the rigid connection between the raising legs 14 and the mast is released and the mast is supported in its tilted position by means of guy lines 26 extended between the upper end of the mast and points 27 fixed with respect to the platform.

The platform .13 for the mast as well as the head rest 11 are mounted upon support 28 which may be of a type floatable upon barges or the like to an oflshore location, at which location it may be fixedly located with respect to the subsurface level in any of a number of well known ways. With reference to Fig. 3, it can be seen that the platform 13 for the mast is disposed over a drilling slot 29 which extends inboard of one edge of the support. The broken line representation of the platform 13 illustrates the manner in which the platform may be shifted from one location to another over the slot for drilling a number of wells 30. With reference again to Fig. 1, it can be seen that this location of the platform permits the mast to be swung to the tilted position wherein equipment may be handled laterally of the well location as well as the support 28 for purposes which are described in the aforementioned co-pending application, and which need not be repeated here.

As previously mentioned, it has heretofore been the practice to dispose the drawworks substantially in the plane of swinging movement of the mast and to the side of dead center thereof opposite from the side the mast occupies in lowered position such that the drawworks 24 would conventionally be disposed on the outboard side or mouth of the drilling slot 29. However, in accord ance with the present invention, the drawworks 24 is disposed to one side of the vertical plane of swinging movement of the mast, and more particularly, laterally of the lower end 12 of the mast and with'the axis of rotation of its drum 23 disposed parallel to such plane of movement. The fast line 22 is extended downwardly from the crown block 18 to the drawworks 24 along the outside of the mast 10, as best shown in Fig. 2. It will be understood that this location of the drawworks to one side of the plane will enable the slot 29 to be shortened, and will further reduce the concentration of weight at the mouth of the slot adjacent one edge of the support 28. Also, it will be understood that the location of the drawworks to one side of the swinging plane of movement of the mast enables clearer vision through the open face thereof.

As previously mentioned, the proper distribution of hoisting forces and other reasons have prompted the practice in the past of locating the drawworks to the side of dead center of the mast opposite that to which the mast extends when in other than a vertical position. Since the tilting mast of this invention lies to one side of dead center in its lowered position and on the other side of dead center when in tilted position, adherence to such practice would mean that the drawworks would have to be shifted from one side of dead center to the other.

As will now be appreciated, the location of drawworks 24 to one side of the plane of swinging movement of the mast obviates the necessity for shifting the drawworks in the manner above discussed.

Obviously, however, during swinging movement of the mast in its vertical plane, the fast line is caused to as some varying angular relationships with respect to the drum of the drawworks such that some means must be provided for causing it to spool about the drum substantially uniformly of the length thereof. Furthermore, the extension of the fast line down the side of the mast necessitates some means by which it may be connected between the crown block 18 and drum 23 of the drawworks without misalignment with the sheaves of the crown block. That is, as shown in the drawings, the sheaves of the crown block and traveling block are normally disposed for rotation about axes perpendicular to the plane of swinging movement of the mast such that the traveling block and its hook may be swung in substantially the same plane as that of the swinging mast. It will be obvious that if some means were not provided for translating the direction of the line toward the laterally disposed drawworks 24, it would be misaligned with the sheaves of the crown block.

For this purpose, and in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a novel spooling device, indicated in its entirety by reference character 31 and to be described in more detail hereinafter in connection with Figs. 4 and 5, and a sheave 32 on the crown block 18 which is carried for rotation about an axis substantially parallel to the plane of swinging movement of the mast for directing the fast end of the line from the crown block 18 downwardly to the laterally exposed drum 23 of the drawworks 24.

Referring first to the novel construction of the crown block 18, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, it will be seen to comprise a deck 33 made up of longitudinal and transverse support members and carrying thereabove a bracket 34 for rotatably supporting the fast line directing sheave 32, in a manner previously mentioned. The deck 33 is in turn supported upon a Water table 35 carried above the upper end of the mast and providing a bracket for rotatably supporting a plurality of sheaves 36 about an axis disposed substantially perpendicularly to the plane of swinging movement of the mast. As shown in Fig. 7, the line 19 of the block and tackle means 16 is extended between the sheaves 36 of crown block 18 and a plurality of sheaves 37 of a conventional type traveling block 17, which latter sheaves are also disposed for rotation about an axis substantially perpendicularly to the plane of swinging movement of the mast such that, as the mast is tilted, the traveling block 17 may swing outwardly therefrom in substantially the same plane of movement as the mast.

With more particular reference to the construction of aaaegeer the crown blocli 18; it: Will be seen from Figs, 6 and 7 that the fast h'ne.-2i2 extends upwardly from the drawworks drum along the outside of the mast 10 to the sheave 32. As is apparentfrom the drawings, this sheave 32 isso carried bythe crownblock as to direct thefast' end of the line toward the drum of the drawworks. That is, it can be'seen that any position; of the mastin its vertical planeof rnovement, the fast end of theline-willbeso dii'ected such that it" is not misaligned with the-sheaves 36. From the sheave 32 the; fast end of the lineextends downwardly to the sheaves 3 7 of the traveling block sothat it may beextendedbackand fonthbetween the sheaves 37 and those 36 of the crown block in a conventional manner. As will also be seen from Figs. 6 and" 7, the fast end of the hue 22 is directed downtowardthe rightmost sheaves of the crown and traveling blocks, while the dead line extends downwardly from the leftmost sheave of the sheaves 36 of crown block 18.

Referring now to the novel spoofing device 31, it will be seen to comprise a sheave 38 which is swivelly mounted adjacent the drawworks 24 for engaging the fast line 22, as shown by broken lines in Fig. 5, in such a manner as to cause it to spool uniformly along the length of drawworks drum 23. Specifically, it is preferred that the sheave 38 comprise a snatch block of conventional construction such that the fast line 22 may be quickly disengaged therefrom to permit drilling of the well and the performance of other operations thereon in the upright position of the mast without the use of the spooling device 31. That is, it will be found that the spooling device is required only in raising and lowering or in tilting the mast in which case it may be preferred not to use same in the upright position of the mast.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 4 and 5, the sheave 38 is swivelly mounted upon a support 39 on the platform 13, which support is located intermediate the drawworks and the lower end of the mast so that the sheave 38 may engage the fast line 2 2 in the manner shown by broken lines in Fig. 5. Upon the support 39 is mounted a frame 40 carrying a pair of parallel guides 41. Slidable over the guides 41 is a carriage 42 from which the sheave 38 is suspended by means of a well known type of swivel connection 43. Thus, upon sliding movement of carriage 42 longitudinally on guides 41, the fast line 22 may be engaged by the sheave 38 so as to spool the line uniformly along the length of the drawworks drum 23.

More particularly, carriage 42 is power actuated such that it may be reciprocated along the guides 41 to perform the spooliug operation automatically. This means for power actuation of carriage 42 comprises a piston rod 44 connected at one end to carriage 42 and at its opposite end to a piston 45 slidable within a power cylinder 46 carried from the support 39, as shown in Fig. 4. As shown diagrammatically in Fig. 4, fluid may be introduced from any suitable source under pressure to opposite sides of the piston 45 through lines 47 and 48, and these lines may be connected to a four-way valve 49 for alternately exposing one side of the piston to the source (not shown) of fluid pressure, while exhausting the opposite side.

Preferably, this power actuation of carriage 42 supporting the sheave 38 is synchronized with the speed at which the line is spo'oled about the rotatable drum 23. Obviously, this may be done by manual operation of the valve 49 or by any suitable automatic means. Also, of course, equivalent mechanical means may be employed in lieu of the fluid actuator shown and described.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth, together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the apparatus.

' Itwill: be understood:, that; certainz features andsuh combinations. are: of? utility and may. be; employed. with? out reference: to other features and subcomhinations'. 'Iihis. iscontemplated by and is within the-.scopeof the; claims. i i

As many possible: embodiments may befmadea oh the invention'zwitliout departing from the scopezthereofritis toibe 'understoodz that. all: matters herein set; forth or shown in. theaccompanying drawings is. to be. interpreted as illustrative and not ina. limiting sense.

The. invention having been described, what: is. claimed 1s:.

1. In combinationrvvith. a mast, means mounting the mast onra'. platform for. swinging movement: through a substantial arc and in. a vertical plane, a crown block: at the upper end of the mast, atravelin g: block: suspended? by a line from the crown block, the crown and traveling blocks having sheaves receiving said line and rotatable about axes perpendicular to the plane of swinging movement of the mast, drawworks having a rotatable drum on the platform to one side of said plane, the dead end of said line being secured to a point fixed with respect to the platform and the fast end being attached to the drawworks drum for raising and lowering the traveling. block, another sheave fixedly mounted on the crown block for directing the fast end of the line from said crown block toward said drawworks without misalignment with said first-mentioned sheaves, and means engageable with said fast end of the line adjacent the drawworks and movable longitudinally along the drum of the drawworks to guide said line onto and from the drum of the drawworks substantially uniformly of the length thereof and at a substantially uniform angle with respect to the drum while the mast is in difierent swinging positions in said arc.

2. Apparatus of the character defined in claim 1, wherein said means engageable with said line includes a swivelly mounted sheave movable along a path longitudinally of the drawworks drum.

3. Apparatus of the character defined in claim 2, wherein said swivelly mounted sheave is a snatch block.

4. In combination with a mast, means mounting the mast on a platform for swinging movement through a substantial arc and in a vertical plane, a crown block at the upper end of the mast, a traveling block suspended by a line from the crown block, the crown and traveling blocks having sheaves receiving said line and rotatable about axes perpendicular to the plane of swinging movement of the mast, drawworks on the platform to one side ofthe mast and its vertical plane of swinging movement, and including a drum disposed for rotation about an axis substantially parallel to said plane, the dead end of said line being secured to a point fixed with respect to the platform and the fast end being attached to the drawworks drum for raising and lowering the traveling block, another sheave carried on the crown block for rotation about an axis parallel to said plane of swinging movement for directing said fast end of the line down the outer side of the mast between the crown block and d-rawworks drum, and means engageable with said fast end of the line intermediate the directing sheave and drawworks drum and being movable longitudinally of the drum to guide the line onto and from said drawworks drum substantially uniformly of the length thereof and at a substantially uniform angle with respect to the drum when the mast is swung to various positions in said arc.

5. Apparatus of the character defined in claim 4, wherein the means engageable with the fast line includes a sheave swivelly mounted adjacent the drawworks for movement longitudinally of the drum thereof.

6. Apparatus for use in drilling and performing other operations on a well comprising a platform, a mast, means mounting the mast on the platform for swinging movement in a substantially vertical plane from a reclining position to a substantially vertical position, block and tackle means carried by the mast, means connectible to the block and tackle means to raise the mast from said reclining to said vertical position responsive to manipulation of the block and tackle means, a drawworks including a drum situated laterally to one side of the mast and of said vertical plane, a fast line extending from the upper portion of the mast and connecting the draiwworks to the block and tackle means, a device for guiding the fast line onto the drum of the draw- Works, and means for moving said device back and forth along the drawworks drum to guide the fast line substantially uniformly thereon along the length of the drum and at a substantially uniform angle with respect to the drum While the mast is moving from said reclining position to said vertical position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Y Suth Mar. 21, Severson May 6, Woolslayer et a1. Aug. 25, Esch July 23, Sommarstrom June 12, Woolslayer et a1. Oct. 9, Albright Oct. 6, Miller June 22, Woolslayer et a1. Mar. 6, Chupp Mar. 13,

FOREIGN PATENTS France May 26, 

